CAN LEBANON TURN DRUGS INTO MONEY? MINISTER DISCUSSES PLAN TO CASH IN ON WORLD FAMOUS CANNABIS

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by newsweek.com - TOM O'CONNOR --  Lebanon's economic minister has endorsed a plan to revitalize the country's struggling economy—and it includes capitalizing on one of Lebanon's best known, yet entirely illegal products. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Lebanese Caretaker Economy and Trade Minister Raed Khoury discussed Friday a plan devised by New York-based global consulting firm McKinsey & Company to diversify the country's economy as it faces a deepening financial crisis. The plan reportedly included potential "quick wins" such as getting involved in reconstruction efforts for conflict-ridden Iraq and Syria, investing in the tourism sector and legalizing Lebanon's illicit cannabis farms for medicinal exports. "The quality we have is one of the best in the world," Khoury told the outlet, adding that the cannabis had the potential to bring in up to a billion dollars.

The Lebanese government has long struggled to crack down on the cannabis growers in the Bekaa Valley, an eastern territory bordering Syria and largely under the influence of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement. The powerful Iran-backed political and paramilitary group has routinely denied any ties to the region's booming drug industry, but independent farmers are still well armed and the region's lawlessness has only increased with the outbreak of conflict in neighboring Syria. In March 2017, hashish farm operator Ali Nasri Shamas openly discussed his business with BBC News. "Just like Europe and the U.S. export terrorism to us, we sell them drugs," Shamas told the station as he showed off large supplies of weapons and drugs. Local outlets such as Stepfeed and the 961 soon reported raids on his properties by Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, turning up a generous amount of loot.

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Lebanese sentenced to 8 years for 'insulting Egypt'

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The Daily Star BEIRUT: An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced a Lebanese woman accused of “insulting Egypt and attacking religion” to eight years in prison, according to local media reports. The court decided Saturday afternoon to amend the initial 11-year sentence that was reported earlier in the day, but it remained unclear why the sentence was reduced. Quoting an official in Egypt's Public Prosecution office, Lebanese television station LBCI said the woman's lawyer had filed an appeal, and that the court date has been set for July 29. The Egyptian state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said Mona Mazbouh was charged with "deliberately broadcasting false rumors which aim to undermine society and attack religions."

She was arrested in May as she was leaving Cairo, after a video of her lashing out at sexual harassment in Egypt and calling Egyptians “dirty” and “pimps” began circulating, the Associated Press reported at the time. She has since remained in detention. The Daily Star could not independently verify the contents of the video. Multiple media outlets, including AP and Reuters, reported that Mazbouh insulted Egyptians. AP claimed she called them the “dirtiest people on earth” and Egypt “the country of pimps ... the country of beggars,” while Reuters wrote that she said Egypt was a “son of a bitch country.” Mazbouh later posted another video, at an undisclosed time and location, in which she apologized to the Egyptian people. “I want to apologize to those I offended. When I said Egypt, I didn’t mean 100 million,” Mazbouh said in the seven-minute video, referring to the estimated Egyptian population.

Mazbouh attributed the outrage to her use of the word “shaab” (population). “In Lebanon when we say ‘look at this shaab’ [as an insult] we don’t literally mean the entire population. It’s just a saying. Maybe [things] got lost in translation, but I didn’t mean everyone and I apologize,” she said. “I am talking about a percentage of the population, those who harass.” It was unclear whether she was talking about sexual harassment or other forms of harassment as well. Mazbouh said she first posted the video on a private Facebook page that had only 25 members and that one of the participants took it and posted it on a public platform. “I know who he is, but I don’t know why he did it. Maybe he felt offended because he was a harasser as well.” Mazbouh showered Egypt with compliments, saying she loved the country and that if she had ill-feeling toward the entire population, she “wouldn’t have come back repeatedly and enthusiastically.” “But there is a percentage, one that could be found in every country, [of people] who are bad. There is one in Lebanon, albeit it’s a smaller percentage. I’m not going to apologize to those [people].”

Bikfaya Peach Festival held in Beirut, Lebanon

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Customers buy peaches during Bikfaya Peach Festival in Bikfaya. The Bikfaya Peach Festival is an annual event which Lebanese are waiting for, as Bikfaya Peach is famous for its sweetness and delicacy. The festival lasts from July 5 to 8 in Bikfaya. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

Al Futtaim Group Plans to Invest $2 billion in Lebanon by 2030

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by aawsat.com -- Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat Lebanon’s economic obstacles do not prevent foreign investors from eyeing the country’s opportunities, including the Majid Al Futtaim Group, which is preparing to raise its investments in Lebanon to $2 billion by 2030 according to an integrated plan. Majid Al Futtaim’s retail investments, which are represented in Carrefour stores, have reached $18 million this year and are expected to rise to $50 million over the next five years. Al Futtaim retail market is now part of an expansion plan covering 15 countries in the world, including the Arab markets, four of which have so far launched electronic stores. Lebanon has joined the latest plan that was announced by Majid Al Futtaim Retail CEO Hani Weiss in Beirut last week, in parallel with the opening of the third Carrefour stores in the Zouk Mosbeh area in Mount Lebanon. Weiss told Asharq Al-Awsat that the volume of investment in the two previous Carrefour stores reached $18 million, with 650 employees, 99 percent of whom were Lebanese. He noted that based on the five-year plan, the group seeks to hire 1,700 employees within the next five years. “We have the exclusive right to use the name of Carrefour in the Middle East and the plan is to double the size in the next five years,” he said.

According to the CEO, the focus of the investment is the Lebanese market because it is always open to new innovations. He added the Lebanese consumer “is selective and cares about quality.” Thousands of goods sold by Carrefour are imported directly from France and offered at competitive prices in Lebanon. In addition to the well-known shopping centers, the group launched the first online service of its kind in Lebanon, through the opening of the "e-store", which offers grocery goods and electronics and delivers them to the consumer within two days, at prices identical to those in store. “In the next six months, we will reach 7,000 categories that will be available in the electronic service,” Weiss said, pointing out that the new service would increase the operating rate in the Lebanese market.

Lebanon: President Receives Economic Plan

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by aawsat.com -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the need for everyone to be united and work within one team to achieve the ambitious goals of the national economic plan, which will be reflected in various economic, social and living issues. Aoun emphasized on Wednesday the need to implement the strategy for revamping the country's economy, prepared by consulting firm McKinsey & Company. "The strategy is very important especially that it provides a coherent and comprehensive study for all productive sectors in the country aimed at reaching sustainable economic development," Aoun was quoted as saying. President Aoun chaired a meeting attended by caretaker Economy and Trade Minister, Raed Khoury, Minister of Justice Salim Jreissati, Presidential Advisor Mireille Aoun Hashem, Advisor to the President of the Republic for Relations with the Gulf States, Dr. Fadi Asli, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Nadim al-Munla, and members of the global advisory group McKinsey & Company.

The President was briefed on the outlines of the "national economic plan" which has reached advanced stages. "We appreciate all the efforts exerted by the public and private sectors in addition to economists and academics to complete this strategy," the president said. He praised, in this regard, the efforts of those who contributed to the development of the study including officials from the public and private sectors, economic experts and academics, according to NNA. He highlighted "Lebanon's ability, represented by its economic sectors and its young energies, to create an attractive business environment for direct foreign investments, and to activate competitive sectors capable of promoting economic performance indicators, especially since the study describes the economic situation and challenges in accordance with the current reality, and puts priorities in their proper context, while putting forward the formation of mechanisms to implement the plan and monitor economic performance." After the meeting, Minister Khoury held a press conference, in which he said "the aim of this meeting was to inform the President about the latest developments in the Lebanese economic plan which reached its final stages, in implementation of the decision taken by the Council of Ministers within the set deadline.”

The study has been completed and will be presented to Prime Minister-designate Hariri, before approval by the new government. "The five-year strategy will start once it is approved," said Khoury, adding that the study focuses on productive sectors that will create more jobs in the country. The Minister explained that the presidency's economic team and McKinsey crew worked closely with representatives from the public and private sectors and in coordination with parties, experts, economists and Lebanese academic and civil society members, so as to extrapolate from their experiences in their fields of work and their outlook for the achievement of sustainable development. The study also examines in depth the challenges and potentials of key productive sectors, agriculture, industry, tourism, knowledge economics, financial services, education, health care, real estate, construction, retail, trade, logistics, transport, communications, electricity, water and the role of expatriates in the economic performance as well as the effectiveness of urban planning.

In addition, the plan discusses Lebanon's economic aspirations and means of achieving them through the adoption of the best international practices in terms of legislation and finance to reach a flexible economic environment capable of attracting foreign direct investment and unleashing the promising and sustainable sectors of production. The Economic Vision team also stressed that "the study will include recommendations on pivotal and urgent projects that will move the Lebanese economy forward and launch in the near future.” It also aims to turn Lebanon into a regional hub that provide outsourcing services of high quality. Khoury pointed out that Aoun expressed his support for this plan. The President also called for all parties concerned to work together and work as one team to achieve the ambitious goals of the plan, which are reflected on various economic and social issues that are of concern to citizens.

Lebanese Banks to Fixate on Tech Innovation

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by the daily star.com.lb -- In today’s fast-moving world, where it is easier than ever for customers to find personalized products to suit their individual needs, banks are increasingly competing to stay on top of the game. This is coming to mean using big data to measure all customer behavior, advanced imaging to recognize their faces, and even neuroscience to gage their emotions.At Efma’s fourth annual Retail Banking Summit in Lebanon at the Hilton Habtoor in Sin al-Fil Wednesday, under the title of “How to Manage Transformation for Sustainable Advantage during Challenging Times” bankers and business experts from the Middle East and Europe gathered to share insights on how to keep up with customer demand.

Although Lebanese banks are behind many countries in their digital customer service, they’re eager to jump in, despite a lack of hospitable laws. BLOM bank announced a new product that does KYC (know your customer) for loan applications digitally, still pending final approval by the central bank. “We don’t have a digital law. We need to lobby for a law. Instead, we have decided to push the envelope to make the journey a reality,” said Elias Aractingi, general manager for retail banking at BLOM Bank. “The digital loan application means people can apply for a loan completely online. We’re waiting for approval from the BDL. We want to push the old market so we can build a better and more digital society together,” he added. The central bank says it has several digital plans in the works, including an e-government payment system, in coordination with around 10 ministries, to be launched toward the end of the year; and a potential national digital currency, which is still being studied to learn lessons from other countries. Nevertheless, the BDL says it encourages innovation at Lebanese banks. “We encourage banks to go further with technology. We may be conservative with mobile banking, but banks are doing a good job with innovative apps to support customers,” said Makram Bou Nassar, executive director and head of the payment systems department at BDL. “We’re studying requests by banks.” According to Efma, rapidly changing customer demand is becoming a challenge for Lebanese banks and is pushing them to innovate at a faster pace, as they work to cater to the needs of their customers with tailor-made products while at the same time keeping costs low. Throughout the region, bank branches still play a vital role for customers, while few banks are collaborating with non-banking players to keep up with changes in consumer behavior.

“The slowly evolving market is raising the risk for the financial services providers and the banks need to transform in order to remain relevant to the customers and their needs,” said Fahim uz Zaman, Efma’s general manager for the Middle East. “They need to reach their customers more effectively and cost efficiently, ingrain more automation internally, and offer digital financial services propositions which are comparable to what are being offered by large consumer technology companies or Bigtechs.” Areas where banks are looking to get an edge on their competition include: designing digital wallets attractive for millennial customers; using data analytics and big data for cross-selling purposes; developing payment systems for a cashless society; digital onboarding; collaborations with new players and Fintechs; the future roles of bank branches; and questioning how to build a digital future around customer needs. At some banks, what was once implausible science fiction is now reality. DenizBank in Turkey is taking customer personalization to a brave new world of neuroscience and brain scans. “Through eye tracking and cognitive load tests, we’re using neuroscience to measure how customers are feeling. We’re putting ourselves into customers’ shoes,” said Gurhan Cam, deputy CDO and president of the innovation committee at DenizBank, as he displayed slides of a woman whose head was hooked up to electrodes. “We’re tracking brainwaves of customers for a customer-friendly call center. We’re using neuroscience to increase sales,” he said. Similarly, Tatra Banka in Slovakia has recently launched a face biometry system for opening an account, starting with 1,500 students in June. The customer simply gives a face scan, which is immediately recognized, and the account is opened on the spot. “You can open an account in 10 minutes, and get a loan in 10 minutes,” said Tomas Tencer, head of communication and brand strategy. He added that there isn’t the issue privacy concerns because Slovakians already have such digital photos registered with the ministry of the interior. Zaid Kamhawi, CEO of Qarar, a Dubai-based digital analytics consultancy, noted that some banks in the Gulf are already using advanced systems for customer personalization. “Banks are coming to us to explore machine learning. It gives an added value to their business in collections and recoveries. It gives you an indication of who will pay. The key advantage to machine learning is correlations, what traditional analytics can’t do,” he said. “Who will be the first bank in Lebanon that can give customers an immediate credit decision on the spot?”